Redigerer Langtidseffekter av alkohol (avsnitt)

===Moderne forståelse===
Noen undersøkelser i en del land har hevdet at dødelighet (alle årsaker inkludert) kan være mellom 16 og 28 % lavere blant moderate alkoholdrikkere (1-2 drinker per dag) enn blant avholdsfolk.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Boffetta P, Garfinkel L |title=Alcohol drinking and mortality among men enrolled in an American Cancer Society prospective study |journal=Epidemiology |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=342–8 |year=1990 |month=September |pmid=2078609 |doi=10.1097/00001648-199009000-00003}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Coate D |title=Moderate drinking and coronary heart disease mortality: evidence from NHANES I and the NHANES I Follow-up |journal=Am J Public Health |volume=83 |issue=6 |pages=888–90 |year=1993 |month=June |pmid=8498629 |pmc=1694739 |url=http://www.ajph.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8498629 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.83.6.888}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Fuchs CS, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, ''et al.'' |title=Alcohol consumption and mortality among women |journal=N Engl J Med. |volume=332 |issue=19 |pages=1245–50 |year=1995 |month=May |pmid=7708067 |url=http://content.nejm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=short&pmid=7708067&promo=ONFLNS19 |doi=10.1056/NEJM199505113321901}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Klatsky AL, Friedman GD, Siegelaub AB |title=Alcohol and mortality. A ten-year Kaiser-Permanente experience |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_annals-of-internal-medicine_1981-08_95_2/page/139 |journal=Ann Intern Med. |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=139–45 |year=1981 |month=August |pmid=7258861 }}</ref> New York Times-journalisten Roni Caryn Rabin resonnerer at statistikken til denne forskningen er feil.<ref name="NYT">[48] ^ Roni Caryn Rabin, «Alcohol's Good for You? Some Scientists Doubt It», ''New York Times''  16. juni 2009, s. D6 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05EFD81F3BF935A25755C0A96F9C8B63 web versjon]</ref>

====Maksimal mengde anbefalt====
Ulike land anbefaler ulike maksimale mengder. I de fleste land er den største mengde for menn 140-210 g per uke. For kvinner er største mengde 84 g-140 g per uke. De fleste land anbefaler totalavhold mens man er gravid eller ammer.